Screen time: the next plastic?
Our collective time using screens is a largely unknown, but highly destructive contributor to climate change.
3.7% of global greenhouse emissions can be attributed to our devices, the internet and their underlying systems. This is similar to the impact, pre-pandemic, of the global airline industry. — Source
The weightless, cloud-like nature of the digital world masks its incredible impact. Unlike the roar of an engine and the smell of jet fuel, we cannot easily comprehend the internet’s impact.
Even before Covid-19 forced the world to switch to online communication, social media, streaming culture and work were contributing to many of us spending ever higher percentages of our day glued to screens.
In March 2020, UK adults spent 40% of their waking hours in front of a screen.
A worrying amount when combined with concerns of the impact on sleep, mental health and sedentary lifestyles.
On the flip side, staying connected digitally has no doubt been the saving grace of the pandemic. Keeping those who are isolated connected, keeping people at work, and educating children from afar.
But it raises the question: how can we sustain the benefits of the virtual world whilst balancing the harmful effects on ourselves and the planet?
And, what will that look like in 2030?
Personal choice
Most phones will cheerily notify you on a weekly basis just how many hours you have spent staring into them. Alongside the ability to set complex rules and regulations relating to how long you can spend on what apps.
This could be elevated to track all your screens, in one place. Like a smart meter for your devices, pulling in data from your work laptop, TV, phone, tablet etc. into one accessible dashboard. Expanding your smart home, to include your smart devices.
Working on the same principle as a smart meter, the exposure to the knowledge of how many hours you really have spent may trigger a behavior change. But this would be needed to be combined with awareness of the negative impacts, as well as incentives such as gamification and goal setting.
On top of this, you could layer the environmental impact of your browsing behaviour in relatable terms:
“A staggering statistic is that a typical website produces 6.8 grams of carbon emissions every time a page loads… That’s roughly the same as the emissions produced when you boil an electric kettle for a cup of tea!”
The kinds of behavioural change this could spark is:
- Deleting unnecessary emails, apps, screenshots, photos
- Unsubscribing from unwanted emails
- Using phones for smaller tasks, as they use less energy
- Sending an SMS, instead of a whatsapp or facebook message, and removing gifs, emojis and images
- Switching to Wifi whenever possible
- Watching films and TV together
- Choosing audio media over visual media
You can read more about this here and here.
However, this relies on the user continuing to monitor and adapt their behaviour. Like any diet, there’s a risk that once the initial enthusiasm has worn off, the user will slip back into old ways.
Reactionary
At some point in the near future, we will start experiencing more frequent physical effects of climate change. Be that freak weather, or more pandemics. As these events start to interrupt our daily lives, the government may have to start to enforce behavior change.
An interesting example is the traffic control measures used in places such as México City, Santiago and São Paulo. Whereby only certain cars are allowed on alternate days of the week into the city centre. This is a reaction to dangerous air pollution levels and congestion.
If this approach was applied then each household would alternately experience short, sharp periods where they restrict their digital usage. A weekend on ‘rationed’ screen time is palatable, knowing that you can enjoy unlimited use for the rest of the week.
Slightly reminiscent of the ending of the film adaptation of Ready Player One, where the virtual world ‘Oasis’ is turned off on Tuesdays and Thursdays.
Choosing how to split and restrict would be one mammoth task, it’s not as simple as putting up traffic cameras. It’s hard to imagine such a complex undertaking going well. Furthermore, this does not encourage long term behaviour change, causing people to save up and binge on their unrestricted days.
Partial
To use another automotive comparison, to drive a polluting car into central London you have to pay a ULEZ charge. Essentially a tax or penalty for choosing a harmful activity. If this same framework was applied to digital-time then surcharges and limits could apply. Perhaps broadband and phone charges have to be higher to reflect this environmental cost, or perhaps large companies have to pay a tax for the collective screen time they devour.
Full mandate/rationing
During WWII Turing’s ‘digital computer’ was in its infancy, the possibility of his work at Bletchley Park leading to UK adults spending 40% of their waking hours staring at a screen would have been unimaginable.
At this time, clothing and food were rationed. Every UK citizen had an allocation that was strictly enforced. The immediate threat of starvation and the need to allow a ‘fair share for all’ was widely accepted.
So, what if we applied these limits to our digital life?
Like an internet cafe or your phone’s data package, you would have a set sustainable limit based on the current impact of the internet. As more data centres become powered by renewable energy, then the limit increases. Driving investment into green technology.
Each workplace would give each employee 8 hrs of ‘credits’ per day, and they would have to stick to it. Imagine the impact on the working day and productivity. No longer would days expand and leak into our personal lives, we would have to stop on time.
For those that do not use their full allocation, they could sell back their digital credits to the grid, as an incentive to further reduce consumption.
Perhaps, mobile phones could become a simplistic device once you’ve hit the limit. Social media and streaming could lock down — leaving your smart device as dumb as an old Nokia. Thus, allowing for emergency situations.
This is not so far fetched in China, where under-18s are only allowed to play video games between 8 p.m. and 9 p.m. on weekends and legal holidays.
Of course, it’s not just the time you spend on the screen but the type of activities you complete that changes your impact. Image heavy pages, laden with scrolling banners and autoplaying video use more energy. This could lead to an evolution into more sustainable web design, where superfluous elements are reduced, the visual language is pared down, accessible and minimal.
“A significant portion of the Internet’s total footprint — some say up to 40% — occurs on the frontend, the part created by designers”
Endless scrolling would be out (good riddance), and focused and considered journeys would be in. Imagine your online grocery shop was no longer intent on upselling products as you go along, halving the time (and impact) of your order.
There’s a really great design resource here for those looking to incorporate sustainability into their UX/UI design.
Analogue Dystopia
There may come a time when we go too far. Where we’ve bumbled and bumped blindly past the point of no-return. The government has to act to reduce emissions immediately. Just like Covid lockdowns, our liberty is put to one side for the greater good. Digital restrictions become one of many changes to our daily lives.
Addictive media is banned, including streaming, social media and online retail. We return to a state where libraries are the gateways to information. Books become a source of entertainment and information once more.
If you do need to use the internet, you would have to book an allotted time and provide a reason you need to use it. The same way as if you were accessing a rare book in a library.
It’s not a world many would like to live in. I like to quickly google how to make a recipe, when the next train is coming and to message my friends wherever in the world they are.
Digital Dystopia
I can’t talk about the future of screen time without a mention of the Metaverse. The Metaverse can be defined as:
“A network of 3D virtual worlds focused on social connection. In futurism and science fiction, the term is often described as a hypothetical iteration of the Internet as a single, universal virtual world that is facilitated by the use of virtual and augmented reality headsets.”
The idea that we will escape into a virtual world once ours has been destroyed is explored in the novel Ready Player One. The virtual world, with its lack of consequence, becomes a safe haven from the reality of well, reality.
We could all put our headsets on and immediately be inside a utopia. Completing our working lives, social lives and everything in-between without leaving the house.
Arguably you could save a lot of resources on transport, clothing and just about any material item. But there’s a sense of giving up, of detachment from the burning world outside that makes me believe it would be more of a dystopia.
“Being human totally sucks most of the time. Videogames are the only thing that makes life bearable.” — Ernest Cline, ‘Ready Player One’.
But, as we start to look at all aspects of our lives and the related impacts, things must change. I believe some form of rationing will be part of our lives in the run up to 2030, and our screens cannot escape the scrutiny they deserve.
We know our demons now, after 10+ years of social media people are looking to bring a sense of control back to their lives. Attitudes towards the digital world are shifting.
Before 2030 I think that we’ll start to see screen time reductions like calories on food. Not everyone will take notice, but what is ‘healthy’ will start to be quantified and socialised. Digital diets, limiters and ‘light’ webpages will become the norm.
In locations that struggle with resource scarcity and infrastructure security, government imposed limits may start to creep in. Even in secure countries, surge energy pricing will start to impose screen time rationing by stealth.
Post 2030, if we haven’t kicked our screen time habit, we may all disappear into the metaverse one headset at a time.
